Whereas clients are often responsible for the cost when they are committed to use enterprise solutions hosted by service providers to collaborate with their partners via the Internet, their partners are often not. Since the partners get to use the solutions paid for by the Clients, although sometimes with relatively limited functions, they now have little incentive to subscribe to such enterprise solutions from the service providers.
Thus, the client is often the only paying party in his collaboration community. This is not a fair model. In the long run, clients would harbor resentment for being the only payee in the collaborating community, resulting in potential loss of business for the service providers.
There are also those solutions hosted by service providers that require all participants within the collaboration community to pay subscription fees based on an open formula, which treats all participants equally. A Client, who chooses these solutions, may invite others to join. In this model, clients typically obtain approvals from all participants. This is a very cumbersome process. Until every partner reaches an agreement, collaboration solutions cannot begin to execute.
There are also those solutions hosted by service providers that require all participants within the collaboration community to pay subscription fees, according to different formulas. They nonetheless still require a complex approval process.